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“America’s Most Famous Dessert” has been a classic in U.S. households for over 100 years, and Jell-O continues to make us smile with its wiggly jiggliness and bold fruit flavors.

Apparently I’ve been living under a rock, because I had never heard of Broken Glass Jell-O, and boy I sure have been missing out! This dessert is absolutely beautiful and absolutely delicious!

I used a recipe from justjennrecipes.com, with red, orange, blue and green Jell-O, but you could use any flavor/color combo! It’s perfect for pot lucks or maybe that Easter family gathering you have coming up.

Just in case you don’t already have the J-E-L-L-O jingle in your head, I’ll bring back some Jell-O memories for you.

The dessert was invented in 1895 when a cough syrup maker, Pearl B. Wait, adapted Peter Cooper’s 1845 patent for gelatin dessert, adding strawberry, raspberry, orange and lemon flavoring. It was Pearl’s wife May who really made history, coining the term Jell-O.

They sold the business to Orator Francis Woodward in 1899 for merely $450. The dessert brand has been off and running ever since, with a variety of flavors and types of desserts over the years. Did you know they had cola and coffee flavors? What about savory flavors like celery, Italian, mixed vegetable and seasoned tomato?

Jell-O makes me think of spokesperson Bill Cosby. And I’m sure some of you remember growing up with Jell-O Jigglers in red and blue for the 4th of July or green and yellow for Homecoming. For some reason, when I was a little girl my mom always made us Jell-O when we were sick, so it’s that kind of food that makes me think of home. J-E-L-L-O!!

Broken Glass Jell-O

4 (3-ounce) small boxes of Jell-O, different colors

1 can sweetened condensed milk

2 envelopes unflavored gelatin

Water

Dissolve each box of Jell-O separately, using just 1 cup of boiling water per flavor. Pour into individual containers (small tupperware works well) and chill overnight. Once solid, cut the flavors of Jell-O into small blocks and mix together carefully in a glass 9×13 pan. In a separate bowl, dissolve 2 envelopes unflavored gelatin in 2 cups hot water. Let cool a bit and stir in the condensed milk. Cool to touch and pour cooled milk mixture over Jell-O. Chill overnight and enjoy!